NEWARK — Jiana Rojo’s birthday went off with hardly a hitch Friday, filled with just five hits allowed and a ninth strikeout of the afternoon to seal the Newark Memorial High softball team’s 4-1 win over Livermore to reach the North Coast Section Division 2 semifinal round.

The triumph came as a relief to Rojo, who turned 17.

“I’m so happy we won,” the junior said with a smile. Asked if the team would celebrate, Cougars coach Rachel Kahoalii said, “We just did.”

“Our pitcher did well, we had some timely hitting, we were able to execute and we had some great defense,” Kahoalii said. “It was a true team win. The energy in the dugout, the enthusiasm and all of that was the difference.”

Beside two singles and a homer ceded to Melissa Nunes, Jiana Rojo and her defense gave up just two singles and a hit batter.

“She hit her spots really well and she had confidence in her defense,” Kahoalii said.

“She really believes in them and that allows her to take risks sometimes and be successful.”

Nunes’ homer was a two-out no-doubter to left field a 1-0 curveball in the sixth inning.

“My curve was working for me today,” Rojo said. “Even though she beat me on it, the curve was good on everyone else.”

Desiree Herrera had three singles and scored on the double by Gonzales, whom Kahoalii praised.

“She’s a source of confidence for Jiana,” the coach said. “They feed really well off each other.”

The Cougars are set a semifinal next week against the winner of Saturday’s game between Rancho Cotate-Rohnert Park and Montgomery-Santa Rosa.

“Our defense was so strong, and so was our offense,” Gonzales said.

Thus ends the season for the seventh-seeded Cowboys (12-12), who downed two-time defending NCS Division 1 champ Amador Valley three weeks ago and defeated Petaluma in the first round.

Senior Hannah Bennett appreciated that Livermore’s coaches talked to the team about “how proud they are, always dedicated and never gave up.”